Three months ago, Mira Winery in Napa embarked on a grand experiment: It lowered 48 bottles of its 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon into the ocean outside Charleston, S.C. in a custom-built cage to see what aging in the sea would do to the wine's flavor. On Tuesday, the bottles were retrieved and tasted. The differences between the wine aged in the ocean and the wine aged in the regular process are "incredible," according to Gutavo Gonzalez, Mira winemaker.

Both were fruit-forward and jammy, as would be expected from a new wine, but the vino in the ocean-aged bottles had loosened up and relaxed much more than he expected after just three months. Possible causes floated by Gonzales and Patrick Emerson, an advanced sommelier who also tasted the wine, include the ocean's relatively stable temperature, lack of light, and the rocking motion of the waves.

"I'm perplexed and amazed at how quickly these wines have sort of taken two different paths. Both are delightful to drink. I can tell they're the same wine, but it's almost like there has been some magic happened in the aquaoir," Emerson said in a press conference yesterday.

Mira plans to sell twelve bottles of the wine to Wine Club Members beginning June 1 on a first-come, first-serve basis. But there will be more: In the fall, the winery plans to continue the experiment by placing eight cases of wine in the water for six months.

I get the impression they are just attempting to impress a limited few snobs who would not dare to dispute the Relaxed taste or if the Fruit was forward or reverse.

I'm reminded of Two Buck Chuck winning the blind taste test at the California State Fair competition in 2007.

July 12, 2007

The connoisseurs may cringe, the snobs may even sob, but the judges have spoken: California's best chardonnay costs less than $3.

Charles Shaw Chardonnay, better known as "Two Buck Chuck," beat hundreds of other wines and was named the top prize in a prestigious tasting competition in California.

"The characteristics that we look for in our gold medal winner a nice creamy butter, fruity it was a delight to taste," said 2007 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition judge Michael Williams.

The affordable wine beat out 350 other California chardonnays to win the double gold. Second place went to an $18 bottle, and the most expensive wines at the event, at the price of $55, didn't even medal.

I get the impression they are just attempting to impress a limited few snobs who would not dare to dispute the Relaxed taste or if the Fruit was forward or reverse.

Fruit forward generally means you get more of a fruit (grape) taste at the start of the sip, vs a more aged wine where the fruit flavor has dissipated. Relaxed typically describes a wine which requires less decanting time before unpleasant flavors have dissipated from the wine.

As for ocean aging - colder aging has been around for quite a while, and warmer cellars can give a marked difference in flavor. Typically, however, the difference is right after removing the cork - once decanted for an hour or so, it is difficult to tell the difference between a cold cellar and a warm cellar aging.

And yes, I drink two buck Chuck. The Savignon Blanc is particularly good this year.

25
posted on 05/24/2013 12:31:43 PM PDT
by kingu
(Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)

Currents in both oceans move the same direction in each hemisphere. Clockwise in north of the equator counterclockwise in the south. So the currents passing the pacific coast are colder than those passing the Atlantic coast. I imagine that temp difference was part of the difference.

26
posted on 05/24/2013 12:32:34 PM PDT
by reed13k
(For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothing.)

My first thought. Maybe I'm too cynical but I see this as a marketing ploy for the well-healed who will now say they simply must have the ocean-aged wine and turn up their noses at others who can't afford such a delicacy.

My first thought. Maybe I'm too cynical but I see this as a marketing ploy for the well-healed who will now say they simply must have the ocean-aged wine and turn up their noses at others who can't afford such a delicacy.

I'm waiting for not only 'ocean aged', but specific places in the ocean. 'Mediterranean Sea aged', 'Indian Ocean aged', and rather than the far too common 'Atlantic Ocean', it'll be Bahama Ocean Aged, or Cape Cod Ocean Aged... ;)

30
posted on 05/24/2013 12:49:01 PM PDT
by kingu
(Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)

Your point is well taken but as one who believes that words have or sure should have meaning, if they are to convey a thought to another human, concocting meanings to impress the inner circle does nothing to help those of us outside that circle.

And yes, I admit to not understanding the subtleties of Wine, it would be helpful to skip the fru-fru esoteric language and help more people understand assuming the point is to inform rather than impress.

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